Whale v shark: a grisly outcome

Gerrard Martin, left, and Vance Tua of Takou Bay check out the little that remains of a whale after a great white feasted on its carcass. Photo / Zaelich Tua-Mrkusich

A great white shark feasted so thoroughly on a whale carcass off Takou Bay that little more than its backbone was left to be buried by local iwi.

Northland man Philip Wilson was fishing about 1km off Takou Bay, north of the Bay of Islands, last week when he saw something unusual floating in the water.

Mr Wilson, from nearby Tapuaetahi, said he spotted a "blob" floating in the water and went to investigate.

It quickly became clear the blob was a decaying whale, so badly decomposed the species could not be identified. While the rotting whale was giving off a putrid stench it did not deter the great white.

"We realised it was a floating dead whale, there was no way you could tell what it was. Then a big, big, big shark swam around our boat," Mr Wilson said.

"When I saw the shark I thought it was awesome. It swam up to the boat and around the back. He was never really threatening but let us know the whale was his."

Mr Wilson, along with his wife and nephew, were just metres from a scene straight off the Discovery Channel, he said. He had seen plenty of sharks but nothing that compared in size to the great white.

When they started motoring for home at Tapuaetahi the shark zigzagged behind them for about 400m, then returned to the whale carcass to finish its meal.

The little that remained of the whale was found on Takou Bay on Sunday morning.

Ngati Rehia kaumatua Waitai Tua went to the beach to investigate and see if the head or ribs could be recovered.

However, all that was left after the shark's feast was a 2.5m section of backbone and some decomposing flesh. After gathering up other fragments he performed a karakia and asked his mokopuna to bury it.

The karakia was "to keep everybody safe" and a mark of respect to Tangaroa, who supplied food at Takou Bay.